Some Other Time, Maybe
by Wraith Ink-Slinger
Summary: Spencer promised to tell his father about the bad things that have happened to him some other time, and the opportunity has arisen. Sort-of sequel to "Take Your Dad to Work Day." Oneshot.


Some Other Time, Maybe

A/N: Hello, everyone! This is something I started planning about half-way through "Take Your Dad to Work Day." It's only a oneshot, but it'll cover a little more family bonding and a little hurt-comfort-ish goodness, because who doesn't like that? Enjoy (I hope)!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or an ice pack. It might be a good idea to invest in that last one, though.

_Come mothers and fathers_

_Throughout the land_

_And don't criticize_

_What you can't understand_

_~Bob Dylan_

William Reid slowly gained consciousness and opened his eyes into darkness. He was not familiar with his surroundings, but after peeling his face off the leather couch which he had been sleeping on and sitting up, the past night came back to him. He was in Virginia, visiting Spencer. They had played chess (which Spencer had beaten him soundly at, of course) and Spencer had cooked dinner. William had to admit that his son was indeed a good cook. They had talked and watched a movie and the evening had been quite nice.

In the months since William had reinitiated contact and subsequently gotten himself taken hostage, he and Spencer had slowly been building a relationship. It was still a little distant and definitely fragile, but it wasn't stiff anymore. In fact, there were almost friendly. When William had noticed it was getting on towards midnight, he had stood up to leave, but Spencer had stopped him. He went on about the number of car accidents that took place after midnight and the poor visibility at night even with headlights and then said that the couch was very comfortable. It had taken William a minute to realize that Spencer was offering to let him stay the night.

Now, sitting in the dark on Spencer's admittedly comfortable couch, staring at the clock which read 4:30, he wondered what it was that had woke him up. He was about to lay back down and try to go back to sleep when he heard what must have woken him. A shout- coming from Spencer's room. After a second, William's slightly rusty parenting skills won out over his wish to give his adult son privacy and he was off the couch and heading for Spencer's room. He knocked on the door. "Spencer?" He called in.

There was no response, but another muffled cry sounded from behind the door and William went in. He turned on the bedside lamp, throwing light over the room. Spencer lay in his bed, tangled in blankets. He was pale and sweating and his eyes were twitching wildly beneath the lids. He shifted in the bed and began mumbling. "It doesn't… doesn't help… don't want it…"

"Spencer." William said softly, attempting to rouse his son.

"No…" Spencer mumbled.

"_Spencer_." William said more firmly, placing his hand on his son's thin shoulder and shaking gently.

"_NO_!" Spencer woke up swinging, his fist connecting solidly with William's jaw.

William stumbled back with the sheer force of the younger man's hit while Spencer sat bolt upright in bed, wide-eyed and shaking. William rubbed his jaw and opened his mouth to speak, but Spencer bolted off the bed and down the hall. When William caught up with him, he was leaning over the toilet, heaving up what was left of last night's dinner. Thoroughly confused, William knelt down and rubbed soothing circles on his son's back. "Shh… you're okay." It felt a little odd, going through motions of parenting as he hadn't in nearly 20 years, but it came back naturally.

When it seemed Spencer was done and was sitting back on his heels trying to catch his breath, William went to the sink and filled a paper cup with water for Spencer to rinse with. After a few more minutes, the younger man seemed to feel better. Pale and shaky, but it was an improvement from the vomiting, in William's opinion. "Thank you…" Spencer mumbled, blushing a little.

"Don't worry about it. What was all that about, though?"

Sighing, Spencer looked up at William. He seemed to be about to explain but a look of confusion came over his features. "What happened to your jaw?"

"Oh," Honestly, William had forgotten about it in the excitement, but now he was fully aware of the throbbing bruise that was forming there. "You got me pretty good when you woke up."

Spencer's eyebrows went up. "I-I'm sorry. Sometimes if someone wakes me up from one of those nightmares, I'll come out of it fighting."

"This has happened before?" William asked worriedly.

Spencer nodded. "I'll, uh, get you some ice."

"You should get some for your hand too."

Noticing for the first time that his hand was also bruised, Spencer nodded numbly. William followed him into the kitchen and watched as he pulled two icepacks out of the back of his freezer. "I've learned that these are pretty handy to keep around when you work for the FBI." He said with a wan smile, handing one to William.

The two men sat down in the living room and all was quiet for a moment. "The first time someone tried to wake me up from a dream… nightmare like that, I clocked Morgan." Spencer said suddenly with a small laugh.

William chuckled as well at the image of agent Morgan receiving a hit similar to the one he had from his thin, unassuming son. "Why do you have dreams like that? What are they about?" He asked more seriously.

Spencer sighed and ran his undamaged hand through his hair, clearing his throat. "Most people know not to wake me up when I'm dreaming like that… I guess I probably should have warned you, but it honestly didn't occur to me. I didn't think I'd have one tonight…" He became quiet once more.

"Spencer?" William asked after a moment.

"You wanted to know what happened to me after you left, right?" Spencer asked.

"Well… I know the good things. How you graduated high school at 12 and that you have three PhDs and I know all of your accomplishments and papers… but I need to know the bad things too. If you want to tell me, anyway."

"I think… maybe I can do that now." Spencer said, nodding. "It might be good to get it all out."

William nodded, but didn't say a word. As much as he wanted to prod for further information, he knew he had to let his son give it at his own pace. "You know I was never… um, popular in school… but it just seemed to get worse after you left." Spencer drew his legs up to his chest and he looked, for all the world, like the 10-year-old that William had left all those years ago. "Th-there was one time, when I was in the library…"

Sparing no detail, Spencer explained the torment he had been put through until he graduated high school and William sat and listened. The more he listened, the worse he felt. When Spencer's recitation of his school days came to a close, William cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Is… is that what your nightmares are about? High school?" He asked quietly.

Spencer gave a small, humorless laugh. "No, I barely even think about that much anymore." He unfolded his legs and leaned his head in his hand. "You know, I've shot three men. I killed two of them."

William tried very hard not react to this information, but it was quite a shock. "You've… _killed_ people?" He asked quietly. "No, I suppose that makes sense… I mean, you work for the FBI, it must be… an occupational hazard or…"

"No, it wasn't as though it was easy." Spencer shook his head. "I struggled with all three shots. I remember each and every one of them clearly, and I would even without an eidetic memory."

When William didn't say anything else, Spencer continued. "The first one was named Phillip Dowd. He was a long-distance serial killer, or L.D.S.K. He shot people from a distance and then would go work his shift at the emergency room so he could save them."

"That's… nothing begins to describe that…" William said with disgust.

Spencer shrugged. "It was a difficult case, though mostly because no one had ever caught an L.D.S.K. with a profile before. I was also having trouble passing my firearms qualification exam at the time. But… well, Hotch and I ended up being taken hostage, along with the rest of the emergency room. Hotch… managed to get his gun to me and when Dowd was about to start shooting, I took the shot." With a small shudder, the young man went on. "I remember the look on his face, still. Just this _blank_ look… I haven't had any trouble hitting the target since then, though."

William couldn't think of much to say at this point. Spencer seemed to take his silence as a sign that he should press on. "In February of 2007, we got a case in Georgia… An UnSub was killing people and putting their deaths up on the internet. At first we thought we had a killing team, but it turned out to be one person with dissociative identity disorder. When JJ and I came to Tobias Hankel's house thinking he was a witness, I figured out he was the UnSub, or part of the killing team as I thought at the time. Then… I did something stupid."

"I'm sure it couldn't have been _stupid_…" William said with a small laugh.

"No, no… it was very stupid. I convinced JJ we should split up. She went through the barn and I went around back to the cornfield. I found out later that JJ met up with rabid dogs in the barn… she was okay after a little while, though." Spencer assured his father. "But I, uh, Hankel came up behind me in the field and knocked me down… he got my gun…"

William waited on the edge of the couch for what Spencer would say next. As much as he wished he would hear the tale of how this Hankel person was over-powered and shot and Spencer was just fine in the end, he had the feeling this wasn't the case. "He knocked me out and… took me to a hunting cabin in a graveyard… I was held there for two days." Spencer paused to clear his throat and take a deep breath.

"Are… you alright? We can talk about this later…" William offered, putting a tentative hand on his son's shoulder.

Spencer jumped slightly at the contact and shook his head. "It's better if I tell it in one go." After a moment, he continued. "For two days, I was strapped to a chair… beaten and… I had to make some d-difficult choices."

William didn't like the faraway look in Spencer's eyes. He squeezed Spencer's shoulder a little to bring him back. "Other things happened too… but I can't… not yet." William nodded in understanding and Spencer continued. "Eventually, I managed to get my location across to the team who was… watching me on from Hankel's house. He had it set up so only they could see me. In the end, I shot Tobias Hankel."

Unsure of what to do, William kept his grip on Spencer's shoulder. He'd never dealt with anything even remotely similar to this. He felt he had failed as a parent the first time around and now his admittedly lacking skills were being put to the test. The time had long since passed for anger and outrage at this event. He had missed the nerve-wracking two days when he would have been notified that his son was missing. He knew he had to make up for it now, but he simply didn't know how. Spencer seemed to understand this and pressed on. "I struggled with that for a while. I considered quitting. But I've gotten better. I'm dealing with the problems really well. But sometimes I still have those… nightmares."

Tossing the melted icepack on the coffee table and leaning back on the couch, Spencer sighed. "The last person I shot was the one who shot me." He said after a short while, patting his knee. "He's alive, though."

William also put his icepack down, his jaw feeling a little better by now, and leaned on the armrest of the couch. Looking out the window, he saw that the sky was beginning to lighten just a bit. They'd been up for an hour and a half now. He looked over at Spencer, who looked utterly exhausted. He supposed it had to be draining to dream about one of the worst times of your life and then relate your most traumatic experiences to your semi-estranged father. "I think maybe I ought to get going now." He said after a few moments.

Spencer's head snapped up and William regretted his choice of words. He could see the apprehension underneath the exhaustion in his son's eyes. "We both need some sleep and some time to sort out this morning." He said by way of explanation.

Nodding, Spencer leaned back against the couch once more. William grabbed his suitcase and went to the bathroom to change out of his pajamas. When he came out, he found Spencer waiting by the door for him, his arms hugged around his thin frame. This struck William as odd. He knew that Spencer had picked the habit up from Diana and it meant that he was feeling upset and… vulnerable. He was sure Spencer would be able to explain the psychology behind it.

To William, though, it meant that things were changing. Previously, in times of high emotion, Spencer would get defensive or angry with him. They'd had arguments in the past, but now it seemed as though Spencer was letting his guard down… if only a little bit. "I am really… grateful you shared this with me." He told his son.

Spencer nodded again. "Uh… thank you. For listening and everything you did." He seemed a little embarrassed.

"I think round about now a normal father and son would… hug or shake hands or something…" William said as he moved to the door.

"We've never really been normal…" Spencer said with a short laugh.

"No, I guess not." William admitted. However, before he stepped out the door, he wrapped one arm around Spencer's shoulders in an awkward hug. "Your mother's right; you need to eat more." He said with a small smile.

Spencer shook his head but smiled a little as well, shutting the door behind his father. He turned back to the hallway and wandered in the direction of his bedroom. He had the day off; he may as well make up for the sleep he lost. He was sure he would sleep much better, though, if he was sure he hadn't just scared his father off for good…

Later that day, Spencer sat at his computer, attempting to do some more research to finish off the latest paper he hoped to publish. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and had given up shortly after 7:30 that morning. He jumped when the phone's shrill tone rang out through the quiet apartment. "Hello?" He answered.

"_Spencer, it's, uh… Dad."_

"Yeah… hi." Spencer replied quietly.

"_I was wondering… if you wanted to go out for dinner tonight?_"

_Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad._

_~Author Unknown_

A/N: Yep, that's it! I hope it wasn't as long-winded as I think it is and I hope you guys like it… I rather like the ending. A review would be absolutely lovely, if you feel like it. Oh, and kudos to anyone who recognized the minor significance of a quote from Bob Dylan. Thanks!


End file.
